Miami Dolphins talking points: Only one Dolphin in NFL’s top 100 players?

Biggane will undergo surgery Thursday and be sidelined for a little while, which left us a bit short-staffed on Wednesday. With that in mind, here’s Thursday’s talking points a little early to freshen up the blog after I neglected it much of the day.

Let’s begin with a Dolphins’ snub by The Sporting News.

Porter explains where he thinks The Sporting News should have picked him. (Sun-Sentinel)

1. Linebacker Joey Porter is the Dolphins’ only prime-time player.

A panel of experts compiled by The Sporting News, including 27 NFL Hall of Famers, doesn’t think too highly of Miami’s talent level.

Only four teams (Bucs, Chiefs, Bengals, Jags) had no one on the list. The Bills, 49ers and Rams had one player, like the Dolphins.

Don’t think TSN is picking Miami to make the playoffs.

Meanwhile, eight RBs made it instead of Ronnie Brown, including No. 77 Willie Parker and No. 96 Steven Jackson. Eleven QBs, including Brett Favre and Michael Vick, were on the list instead of Chad Pennington, who was runner-up for the NFL MVP in 2008. The panel determined seven offensive tackles are better than Jake Long, including Denver’s Ryan Clady, who also was a rookie last season.

The Favre (No. 51) and Vick (No. 88) choices are ridiculous. How about some of the other ones?

Before everyone starts ripping TSN as a publication, remember no one was complaining too much when it named Don Shula the No. 5 coach of all time, and No. 2 behind Vince Lombardi among NFL coaches.

2. One man can’t stop Falcons’ RB Michael Turner.

Slowing down this 5-foot-10, 244-pound bowling ball takes a team effort. Of Turner’s 1,699 rushing yards in 2008, 913 were after initial contact – tops in the NFL.

“I guess I’ve heard about 12 times a day,” linebacker Channing Crowder said of Turner’s yards after contact.

Turner also possesses excellent speed for a man his size, too, (which by the way is 12 pounds lighter on NFL.com than this morning), so he’s capable of breaking big runs, including a 66- and 70-yarder last season.

“Michael has had a few 75 yard runs in his career,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said.

Gang tackling Turner is a must.

3. Who’ll emerge opposite DE Kendall Langford?

Langford has established himself on the strong side, but Vonnie Holliday’s replacement on the right side might take time to sort out.

Randy Starks is the starter, but had just two preseason tackles in four games. Tony McDaniel, listed as Starks’ back-up, had a solid preseason, highlighted by a pair of sacks, but Jacksonville traded him for a seventh-round pick because of inconsistent effort.

Phillip Merling, selected ahead of Langford in the 2008 draft, is listed as the back-up on the strong side after he opened training camp as the starter opposite Langford.

Langford is ahead of the pack and beginning to show some pass-rushing skills to go along with his run-stopping.

The Dolphins will play defensive end by committee, but if someone were to raise his game to Langford’s level the team would field a pretty impressive starting front seven.